Note to Player:

• You guys are my bread and butter. I have so appreciated the support and comments on Instagram. It genuinely keeps me motivated. Please keep complimenting and building my ego. I'm trying to reach maniacal status.
• I would appreciate if you could help my Itch.io post get seen by upvoting this announcement post.
• ANY ISSUES with this build please report it to the new survey available here. 
  • TAKE SCREENSHOTS of these issues. It will help me immensely!

New features:

• MAJOR UPDATE
  • This is a complete rework of the original demo, with tons of new content. 
  • Completely redesigned levels with more consistent art and gameplay direction.
  • I included most of the same combat systems, but have updated the format of gameplay so there is never a cut between scenes in a run.
    • Expect a few choppy loading sequences while you wait for new content to update. I hope to optimize this in a later update.
• NEW LEVEL 3 ADDED
  • New enemies
  • New "boat" rune mechanic
  • New boss
  • Long level - this is basically two levels, and can take a long time to beat (until a certain permanent item is found)
• New weapons
• New items, both temporary and permanent
• Updated UI and menu experience to accommodate the changes
• New secret areas, shortcuts, and interactive discoveries
• Controller support now includes an option to "auto-fire" rather than press a button to attack. (Personally I prefer this off, but wanted it as an option.)

Behind the Scenes:

• The goal for this update started by wanting to reformat the level design to feel more like a Zelda-inspired overworld, rather than bite-size levels that load one after the other. I think it feels that way. 
  • And the good news is that there are some pretty cool shortcuts in this version, and more coming in future versions of the game. These will seriously impact your run, and reduce the gameplay time.
• Another big addition was the gold item system, which is a series of permanent items that are harder to discover and acquire.
  • These items will reduce your gameplay time significantly, making it so you don't have to find each essential normal item on each run.
• I AM TAKING SOME TIME OFF. 
  • Just started a new job and I'm moving, so I have to focus on that for a while.
  • I am a solo developer who works on this project in my spare time. It's super fun, and it's a LOT.
  • Took me years to put this update together. I have big plans for the next update, and the rest of the game is also planned out.
  • Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to update the story and dialogue in this version. The next major release will address this and include a more consistent storytelling experience.